Community Trust Shortlisted For Online Mentoring Award

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) has been supporting young people through the NHS Online Mentoring project.

Now one of the three mentors from LCHS has been shortlisted, alongside her mentee, for a special award.

Jill Anderson, the Strategic Lead for Education and Quality at LCHS, is among the finalists for the Mentoring Pair of the Year award in the Brightside Online Mentoring Awards. The awards are held by mentoring charity Brightside, which runs the NHS Online Mentoring Project in partnership with National Skills Academy for Health, to honour the most inspiring mentors and mentees from the many different mentoring schemes the charity runs across the UK.

The NHS Online Mentoring project is designed to help young people explore careers available within the NHS. Young people are matched with a mentor working in their area of interest.

The mentors answer questions, provide an insight into what their role really entails and help the mentee to develop study and employability skills through a secure online system.

"I found it to be a really positive experience and I think the three students did too," said Jill.

"Throughout the 12 weeks my eyes were really opened to the anxieties and pressures these students face. I was able to offer real-life experience and advice to the students which they said really helped them make informed decisions."

"I'm really thrilled to be shortlisted for the award and I hope to take part in more mentoring in the future."

Donna Phillips, Clinical Nurse Educator and Interim Clinical Nurse Lead at John Coupland Hospital, and Moira Christie, Senior Workforce Development Educator, also at John Coupland Hospital, both also supported three young people each through the same online mentoring scheme.

"One of my students wanted to be a midwife and another a doctor, which was challenging but also fulfilling to see how they progressed throughout the 12 weeks," said Donna.

She added: "I supported one of my mentees through two interviews for nurse training and it was great to hear her second interview went well with the tips I had talked her through. I would certainly sign up to support further students through this process again."

The students also had to complete online tasks, as well as being able to interact with their mentors.

"I really enjoyed the experience of being a mentor to three students; one wants to be an educational psychologist, another a doctor and the third a dentist," said Moira.

"I was extremely impressed with their effort and enthusiasm to learn more about the NHS and their chosen pathways. I would be happy to do more mentoring going forward."

Jill has been invited to the awards ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London on the evening of July 16.

Amelia Gabriel, Brightside's Strategic Projects Manager, said: "We're hugely grateful to Jill, Donna and Moira, since Brightside's work to help young people that need it most fulfil their potential simply wouldn't be possible without the dedication of our mentors. The awards celebrate the achievements of the young people on our schemes, and also the hard work of the mentors who support them and can be proud to share in their success."